A Book Review: Called To Worship

When I first received this book, I thought to my self, "UH-OH!" This is not a book for Janice, this is more of a Mike or Terrell book! However, I trudged on through. AND, I discovered it was a perfect book for Janice. Especially right now, I am in a weird place with my faith/God relationship. I have been really disillusioned with the concept of church as a whole. Not my church in particular because I love it and think we are very unique in our family-ness.

However, in relation to witnessing to a world that doesn't know Christ, church seems to not be the best way of reaching out. Churches as a whole get a bad rap, in some ways, a much deserved rap. We are paying for the sins of ourselves and the sins of our fathers. Sins which include treating others as 'not quite as good as we are', making visitors feel unwelcome, keeping our own sins a secret while nailing other people to the wall over theirs and so many more. Mostly though, our biggest sin is making our churches collections of people 'just like us'.

This books strips away all of that and puts worship on a higher plane than just church. Worship is not just about God, it is why we are created. It is why everything was created. This book delves deeply into the scripture and tells us exactly why we are created. Exactly why we treasure nature and all that it entails. Why God created the way he did, the order, the fact that he rested and so much more. I am in awe. AND I was already in awe, now I am so much more so. God is such a relational God and I JUST MISS IT. And I pay for missing it. Not only will I be referring to this book for a long time, I will also be exploring other books written by Vernon Whaley. He seems to pull the things from scripture that I have been passing over. This is one time where a book came into my life at just the right time and I am grateful. If you are struggling with your faith/God relationship, I highly recommend this book.